Saharia to be Maharashtra's state election commissioner

The Maharashtra state cabinet decided to recommend former chief secretary J S Saharia as Maharashtra State Election Commissioner (SEC) today, to the Maharashtra state governor.

Saharia, who is a 1978-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, had attained superannuation in July 2014.

Former bureaucrat Neela Satyanarayan who was appointed State Election Commissioner of Maharashtra in 2009, retired on July 5 this year.

Saharia took charge as Maharashtra's chief secretary in December last year, succeeding Jayant Kumar Banthia.

A 1980 batch IAS officer Swadheen Kshatriya had succeeded Saharia as chief secretary a month ago.

As the SEC, which is a constitutional post, Saharia would be responsible for conducting local elections in Maharashtra state.